Capturing the world through photography, video and multimedia

"I was out shooting street life in downtown Los Angeles and came across this interesting man walking with confidence and had to take his photograph," Thornton said of this photograph. "The gentleman was so cool; and after I took his photo, I just made eye contact and nodded, he did the the same and I kept walking."

Reader Photos: Best of Southern California Moments for March

One of the most striking images of this month is Jay Thornton’s street portrait of a man walking in downtown L.A. Thornton’s approach — approaching strangers and popping a flash in their faces with nary a warning — requires a lot of guts to pull off in the middle of an area like downtown L.A. What’s even more interesting is the man’s reaction: “After I took his photo, I just made eye contact and nodded, he did the same and I kept walking.”

Street photography has always been one of my favorites, both for the minimal amount of control you can exercise over the scenes but also because of the sheer unpredictability of it. Thornton’s experience is an example of the great moments possible in street photography.

Other great images this month include a scene from a rally denouncing the killing in Florida of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and a double-exposure “accident” created by using two scenes from Venice.

The days are finally getting longer, which means more daylight hours for shooting, and the “golden hour” is starting to fall at right around the end of the workday. While you’re out enjoying the longer hours, be sure to swing by the Los Angeles Times Framework pop-up gallery at the Downtown L.A. Art Walk this Thursday, April 12. Music, photography, and complimentary Ketel One tasting with RSVP. It’s going to be big.